$600M Circle Center project would gut indoor mall
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A development plan for Circle Centre would gut the interior stores and turn the middle of the property into an open-air walkway. Image: Courtesy of Hendricks Commercial Properties
Indianapolis is getting out of the urban indoor shopping mall business.
Driving the news: Hendricks Commercial Properties has agreed to acquire Circle Centre Mall early next year and gut it as part of a $600 million redevelopment project including housing, offices, entertainment and modern retail space, per the IBJ, which has the scoop.
Why it matters: Hendricks gets things done.
- Its success on other projects instills confidence that Circle Centre will once again become a signature property after some false starts.
Context: The Wisconsin-based developer is behind the booming Bottleworks District on Mass Ave., including redevelopment of an old Coca-Cola bottling plant.
- It also built IronWorks at Keystone, one of Indianapolis' most acclaimed apartment projects.
What they're saying: "Hendricks has a proven track record of innovation and creativity," Downtown Indy CEO Taylor Schaffer tells Axios. "It's incredible to think that in less than a decade, they have transformed a brownfield bus depot into the world-class destination that is Bottleworks."
- "That same sort of visionary investment is exactly what Circle Centre needs."
State of play: Circle Centre, though profitable, is an increasingly vacant fortress spanning two blocks adjacent to downtown's biggest attractions.
Details: Hendricks plans to demolish Circle Centre's interior corridor and replace the rows of empty stores with landscaped open-air spaces between Meridian and Illinois streets.
- The historic street-facing facades would be preserved.
- Plus: Hendricks wants to detach the glassy Artsgarden from the mall, creating a grand staircase on the southeast corner of Illinois and Washington streets.
What's first: The developer expects to start with a $100 million first phase on the south block, with a tentative completion scheduled for 2028, coinciding with the city's plan to make Georgia Street more pedestrian friendly.
Of note: The city and state are offering a combined $64 million in tax credits and forgivable loans, per the IBJ.
Flashback: Circle Centre opened in 1995, at almost the precise moment when enclosed shopping malls started to fade out of style.
- After Nordstrom closed in 2011, most big-name stores slowly followed, with the pandemic delivering a knockout blow.
- Simon Property Group, a former co-owner and manager, announced plans to add apartments or condos in 2015, but the idea fizzled.
Between the lines: A convoluted ownership structure with 17 stakeholders — some of whom were content with the mall's consistent profits — made consensus hard to find.
Meanwhile, the city owns the land and parking garages, which Hendricks also agreed to buy.
- Mayor Joe Hogsett called the complex deal between the mall owners, Hendricks, the city and state a "monumental transformation" for downtown.
The bottom line: Developments on this scale fail often.
- Hendricks' involvement is fueling optimism that Circle Centre's rebirth is finally here.